My future has always been held in your hands, even when I didn't know
by 24isthebest
Summary: "It's you and me in there, I can feel it. And if not… it's still you." Based on speculation and the need for Juliette's land to come back up after being long forgotten.


I really want the show to bring back the Tammy Wynette land Juliette talked about in Season 1, and for her to be there with Avery. That's basically what prompted this one-shot. Let me know if you like it, I like reviews! :)

* * *

She stretched under the large oak tree, feeling the rays of sunlight peaking through the canopy on her face. The leaves over her head providing her shade were a comfort, but it did not take away from the feeling of the dry grass under her fingertips.

It hadn't rained in a while; she could feel the effects of the drought underneath her hands as the grass roughly snapped under her soft touch, withering away without the moisture of rain it so desperately needed.

She had left her blanket in the truck, opting to just lie on the ground, feeling the earth on her back like a rough realization. Once a beautiful land full of life, now wilting away under the sweltering sun.

The irony of it was almost eerie. But still, the tree offered her a comfort even she didn't deserve.

Taking a few deep breaths, she let the hot honeydew air into her lungs. She could remember lying in her bed as a kid on the hottest nights in Enterprise, creaking open the window and inhaling whatever breeze came through. She would count how many cool breaths she could gulp in, letting that lull her to sleep.

But there was no breeze today. She could feel her body sticky from the heat, as she flipped her body over to lay on her back. Closing her eyes again, she listened to the sounds of the birds hovering over the still waters of the lake in front of her.

Her ears picked up on a sound, larger than what any animal around might make. She could hear the birds on the branches above her flapping their wings, as their chirping had grown more frantic.

Feeling a body hover over her, fear quickly gripped her body. Instinctively, she jerked her body upright and placed her hands out in a defensive stance, only to feel two hands gripping her arms.

"Hey! It's just me." The grips on her arms loosened, as he kneeled down beside her.

"Avery." She inhaled, regaining normal breathing pattern. She unclenched her fists.

"I didn't mean to scare you." He replied embarrassed. "I should have thought."

"It's alright." She sat up a little, keeping her distance from him, but still turning her body towards him. "What are you doing here?"

He rubbed his neck, facing forward away from her to look at the lake. "I heard about you cancelling the final dates of your tour."

"And?" She turned her face to him. "How did you even know I was here Avery?"

He fiddled with the edge of his shirt. "Deacon told me you might be here."

_Deacon. Right._

"I guess that's a lucky guess on his part then." She bit her tongue, looking at the shimmering lake water ahead.

"You know," he put his hands on his knees, rubbing the dirt lightly off them, "He's been worried about you. He said he left a couple messages. So have I."

"Yeah I got them." Her voice remained tight.

"Why haven't you been answering anyone's calls?" He tilted his head to face her, looking at her in that way she hated. The look that reminded her how well he knew her, even now. "Why haven't you been answering my calls?"

"What else do we have left to talk about Avery?" She looked down. "Don't you get all the information you need from Zoey?"

She knew Zoey had been tasked by Avery to keep an eye on her. And as much as she had really grown to like the girl, his continued involvement in every part of her life after everything was just suffocating. _Especially now…_

"We don't gossip about you or anything." He bumped her shoulder playfully, trying to break the tense mood between them. "I just worry about you, you know that."

"I'm not your problem to deal with anymore." She stood firm. If he thought he could just swoop in and solve all her problems, he had another thing coming to him.

She had called him a couple times after her initial therapy sessions, but she could feel how much it hurt for both of them. The back and forth. So she started ignoring his calls. Pushing him to voicemail.

"You aren't a problem." He smiled over at her, but she could see his inner turmoil. He stretched his legs out, getting comfortable next to her. "You know, this is a really beautiful piece of land."

She edged her body back so she could rest her back comfortably against the oak bark. "It is. I've been coming here every morning this week, just to think. Be alone with my thoughts you know?"

* * *

"_You know, this is private property." She bit her lip a little, trying to control her urge to spit a bit of fire back. Instead, she turned off the truck and smiled over at Deacon._

"_Yeah. It's mine…. Tammy Wynette once owned this land…. I'm gonna build a house here one day. Have a place where I can go and just be myself." _

_A future worth wanting. Worth striving for. There was something about Deacon Claybourne that made her feel like he would understand that._

"_Oh yeah? Who you trying to be the rest of the time?" He looked over at her curiously, and in that moment she could actually picture him on this land with her, even if she knew it wasn't fully right. _

"_Whatever my manager says will sell the most records." She smiled over, sharing it with him._

"_Nothing wrong with that." He replied with a shrug._

_But that wasn't what she wanted. It wasn't who she was. Like untouched land waiting to be uncovered, beauty waiting to be revealed. _

"_Nothing wrong with wanting more than that either."_

* * *

"How come you never told me you had this?" He looked around, taking in the land with his eyes wide.

"Nobody really knows I have it." She replied with a roll of her shoulders, picking at a piece of grass on her shorts. "It's just land."

"It's a lot of beautiful land to just keep hidden away." He smirked.

"It being hidden away is kind of the key." She smiled wistfully back, closing her eyes. "It's like… my secret place."

"But you brought Deacon here." He said, matter of fact, looking over at her carefully.

"I did, it's why he knows about it." She nodded in response, looking up. "Tammy Wynette used to own this land. I figured that would be important to him."

"Trying to impress him with the name huh?" He bit his lip, laughing a little.

"It worked. We wrote Undermine here." _And a few other things_. Which she was sure Avery could guess. He knew how she used to operate.

She remembered how desperately she had tried to grab onto Deacon's attention in that moment. How much she had wanted him to validate her as a songwriter. Part of her still held on to the sigh of amazement from him after she had written the second verse.

"That was a great song." He nodded at her, still looking straight. They sat in silence for a little, watching the sun rays move across the lake.

"Avery." Her eyes filled with tears, gripping the dry grass.

He turned to her, patient. He was waiting. He was _always_ waiting.

Her gripped her eyes closed, not looking at him. "I'm pregnant."

Instinctively, one of her hands rested on her forehead, the other on her lower stomach.

The promise of life rest underneath her fingertips.

She heard him clear his throat. "Are you sure?"

"I went to the doctor earlier this week." She felt her tears fall on the grass next to her. "I tried to pretend it was just stress, but after a while… you just _know_."

She couldn't open her eyes to face him. To see the look of disgust on his face would be too much for her. Or even worse would be seeing complete apathy.

"I'm with a guy that I love, and the minute I self destruct and sleep with someone else… I get pregnant." It was like the worst form of cruel irony. Her voice grew harder to distinguish through her sobs, even she could hear it. "What is it with me?"

She felt his arms cradle her in his chest, as she gripped his shirt and sobbed. She moved her body close to his, as he spread his legs to she could fit in between them. His hands tangled in her hair, holding her securely.

"There is nothing wrong with you." He pulled her head back, wiping the tears from her face with his own hands. She hung on to every syllable that came out of his mouth. "How could you not want to tell me this?"

"I think it's pretty obvious." She bit her lip hard. The unspoken name of Jeff Fordham felt like a heavy weight on her chest.

"Hey," he lifted her face towards his. "I'm here now."

"For how long?" She looked at him through glassy eyes that matched his. "Until we find out its his?"

Everybody left her. He would leave soon enough.

"I'm not going anywhere." He craned his head to look down at her. "That's a promise."

"I can't have you do that." She shook her head. "If you're gonna leave, I'd rather have you leave now."

If he left later, every minute she shared with him would haunt her once he left.

"I'm not going anywhere." He placed a hand over her own hand that had found its place comfortably over her lower stomach. "It's you and me in there, I can feel it. And if not… it's still you." She saw him gasp inward, fully realizing the gravity of the situation. "That's all I need."

And even though everything in her life had taught her not to believe him… she did.


End file.
